Analemma Analemma is a diagram which shows the position of the Sun in the Sky. It is seen at a fixed location on the Earth and the solar. The position of the Analemma varies over the course of a year. The word Analemma, comes from Greek and means, the pedestal of a sundial The reason the Analemma is in the shape of an 8 is because the Sun has different shapes on each of the 8 planets. It is because of the position of the Sun in the sky depends not only on the shape of the planets but also the angle of the planets rotational axis.